News Headlines - 16 September 2020
▽Kushner on Middle East peace deals: 'The people in the region are tired of war' - CNNPolitics
President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, hailed the US brokered peace treaties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday as the beginning of "a new Middle East" and signaled that the Trump administration is making progress in getting more countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, to recognize Israel.
His comments came hours after a White House ceremony, dubbed the Abraham Accords, marked the first Middle East White House peace signing in more than two decades.
A foundation associated with fugitive Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is linked to a non-peer-reviewed study that alleges the coronavirus is an artificial pathogen.
The Rule of Law Foundation’s name appears on the title page of the paper published on the Zenodo open-access research repository on Monday... The study’s first author is Yan Limeng, a former University of Hong Kong postdoctoral researcher who alleged in July that HKU silenced her when she claimed to have discovered early in the outbreak that the coronavirus could be transmitted between people... The Rule of Law Foundation comprises two New York-based charities funded by a US$100 million donation from Guo in November 2018. According to Bannon, the foundation was created to help victims of Chinese government persecution.
Bannon has identified himself as chairman of the Rule of Law Society, one of the foundation’s constituent charities, which is also named on the paper’s title page.
▽Yoshihide Suga named Japan's prime minister, succeeding Abe - Los Angeles Times
Japan’s Parliament elected Yoshihide Suga as prime minister on Wednesday, replacing long-serving leader Shinzo Abe with his right-hand man.
Suga had been chosen as leader of the ruling party on Monday, virtually assuring he would succeed Abe, who resigned earlier in the day because of ill health. Suga, who was chief cabinet secretary in Abe’s government, is to launch his own cabinet later Wednesday.
Suga has emphasized his background as a farmer’s son and a self-made politician in promising to serve the interests of ordinary people and rural communities.
▽Japan celebrates Osaka; Sponsors cautious about activism
Japan is celebrating Naomi Osaka’s victory at the U.S. Open, especially her array of corporate sponsors.
But like much of Japan, they are more muted in backing - or understanding - her campaign against racial injustice in the United States. Unlike the U.S., Japan has relatively few immigrants and has a generally lower level of awareness about racism - even at home.
▽John Boyega: Perfume brand Jo Malone London 'deeply apologises' over ad cut - BBC News
British perfume brand Jo Malone London has issued an apology to John Boyega for dropping an ad he made for them and replacing him with a Chinese actor.
Boyega was last year named as the company's first male global ambassador.
The firm re-shot the personal video the Star Wars actor made, in his home town of London, for the Chinese market.
